Huge announced today the return of MAKE.EXE, on October 6, 2026, at SHiFT Midtown NYC. Unlike a typical industry panel or workshop, MAKE.EXE is a live creative competition, staged like an esports match, where teams respond to real client briefs and build client deliverables in front of an audience that watches decisions happen in real time. Every AI tool is fair game, but the judgment behind them determines the winners: knowing what to keep, what to cut, and what deserves to exist.

“There’s an industry perception that AI and creativity are in competition, when they are not. The tools were democratized; taste wasn’t. MAKE.EXE is where we prove it in real time, in public,” said Josh Campo, CEO, Huge.

The creative battle format debuted in Los Angeles last October, where four teams composed of Huge designers and students from Otis College of Art and Design went head-to-head to respond to client briefs from DirecTV and Behr, live, with no second takes. See the MAKE.EXE 2025 case study for a full look at how it played out. This year, four teams of two, each pairing a Huge creative leader with a student from the School of Visual Arts or Parsons School of Design, will work in real time against mystery client briefs in three 45-minute rounds. This year’s briefs and judges will be announced soon.

Krea, a tool-agnostic AI creative suite, is confirmed as title sponsor of MAKE.EXE 2026.

“We built Krea for people with taste, not for people who need a tool to have opinions for them. We’re happy to power this year’s MAKE.EXE teams,” said Víctor Perez, co-founder and CEO, Krea.

In-person attendance is limited. The event also will be livestreamed. Press interested in attending in person or requesting access may reach out to Huge’s media contact below.

About Huge

Huge is an independent, human-first AI-native design and technology company. We make things that matter by bringing AI, people, design and technology together as one system. With more than 1,000 design and technology experts working in hub cities around the world, including Bogotá, Chicago, Ho Chi Minh City, London, Los Angeles, Medellín, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, DC, we partner with some of the world’s most ambitious brands, including Google, NBCU, PepsiCo, Vail Resorts, Atlantic Health, and Candescent. Learn more at hugeinc.com.

About Krea

Krea is a creative AI platform for people with taste. It brings every leading image and video model, plus its own foundation model, Krea 2, into one workspace built for control: real-time canvas, style and character consistency, moodboards, tunable creativity. You direct it, it keeps up. The point was never automation, it’s speed of thought, getting an idea out of your head and in front of someone else while it’s still hot. That’s why designers, studios, brands, and MAKE.EXE are powered by Krea. Learn more at krea.ai.

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